Deep Wounds
by IceWolf645
Summary: (AU) Celena Schezar is a rebel and a runaway from her position in Zaibach's army, along with all of the Dragonslayers. She wishes to build a new life from the ashes of her previous one, but a little voice in her head keeps showing her old memories.


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Aloha, all you people out there! It is I, IceWolf645, back from my long break of not writing anything. I bring with me more AU stuff, and hopefully you'll like.

Now, note that I said AU. I mean it, too. This takes place in a different version of Gaia, a more modern one. Also, the Dragonslayers are still alive and Celena's back, though not with her brother. The chapters after this first one will be Celena reliving her memories of the army and her Slayers up to this point. Oh yeah, Jajuka's still out there too. I'm not going to guarantee that the dead ones from the show that are alive at the moment are going to stay that way, though. Only time will tell.  
  
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING FROM THE SHOW 'THE VISIONS OF ESCAFLOWNE'. DO NOT SUE ME, I AM NOT RICH! I OWN ONLY MY IDEAS, MY COMPUTER, AND MY HEAD.

Deep Wounds

AU

IceWolf645

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The Special

"And the world goes on," Celena Schezar muttered to herself as she walked along the bustling streets of the quaint country town she and her comrades had taken up in for the moment. Everywhere she looked there was colorful propaganda telling whoever looked at it to 'do their part' by enlisting in the army. One poster advertised 'adventure' and 'honor'. She sniggered and sauntered up next to it, where a small group of young men were talking excitedly amongst themselves. They were discussing whether or not they should take the posters' advice. Celena frowned and sighed, letting her bright blue eyes travel up into the sky, where the faintest tinge of pink was beginning to mix with the robin's egg blue that was the sky of summertime.

She would have advised the young men to think better of their plan, but if she would have done so then she would have drawn suspicion to herself. She didn't need that, and neither did any of the others. Besides, it was treason to speak against the army. Celena growled viciously to herself as this fact flashed through her buzzing mind. 'Treason to speak the truth,' her own voice purred to her inside of herself. 'Isn't it always that way?' Celena supposed it was.

'Was I supposed to be doing something?' the girl wondered, running her fingers through her short blonde hair distractedly. 'This is what I get for letting my mind wander all over the place,' she thought to herself. The voice in her head reminded her that she was in town to see if Jajuka had been through lately. 'Oh yeah,' she thought brightly. She thanked her mental voice, and started walking again. She came to a stop in front of a run-down restaurant called 'The Pig Farm'. She strolled in, smiling amiably, and sat down on one of the stools in front of the counter. A thin girl with long black hair tied in a bow behind her head trailed over to her, a notepad held in one of her pale hands. She smiled at Celena and plucked a pencil from behind her right ear.

"What'll it be, Lena?" she asked in her sweet voice. "You're not looking for the Special again, are you, 'cause we haven't gotten the ingredients in for a whole month."

"Damn," Celena growled unhappily. The young woman had caught on to her and told her what she'd been dreading before she'd even had a chance to ask. "Nothin' then, Allie, I've got to get back to work pretty soon anyways."

"Are the rest of them back at the club?" Allie asked in a quietly bored sort of tone.

Celena nodded and looked at her watch. "Ugh.. I've got bar duty in half an hour." She rolled her eyes and made a face of pure disgust. She stood up from the stool and asked, "Has anyone told you about the birthday party next Tuesday? It should be fun."

"No! Whose birthday is it?" Allie asked, bending down and resting her chin on her fist.

Celena shrugged. "I have no idea. I know it's not mine, but that's about it."

Allie laughed. "Remembering that sorta stuff isn't exactly your best quality, is it?" she teased the blonde girl playfully.

"I'll leave that to the people who have the time to remember," Celena said quietly. "My talents lie elsewhere."

Allie nodded grimly, seeing the serious expression that now clouded Celena's fair face. Celena had a hard time remembering a lot of things, but that might be a good thing. The poor girl's mind had been messed with enough, and Allie had reason to believe that she was using a defense mechanism known as 'selective forgetting' to throw a lot of the harder to deal with stuff out the window. Allie had read many books on psychology while she was still in college, and she was well versed in that particular field.

An angry burst of thought shot through Allie's mind like a bullet from a gun. 'Damn the stupid fricken' government and their stupid fricken' laws, I'll be a damned psychologist if I want to. No one tells me what to do.'

Celena saw the look on her face and smiled as if she knew what the young woman was thinking. Allie supposed that she might. It had been rumored for some time that the girl was psychic, at least enough to catch flashes of what people were thinking. None of Lena's comrades back at the club would confirm it, though. Allie had tried everything she could to get one of them to blab, but they were hard as nails when it came to keeping secrets, especially if they were Celena's secrets.

"I've got to go," Celena spoke up suddenly, halting Allie's train of thought. "I'll be late if I don't leave now."

Allie nodded. "We should get the Special in before the end of next week. If we don't, then you'd better start looking elsewhere." She said all of this with a light and sort of daffy tone, as was expected of her when talking to customers, but Celena caught the undercurrent of solemnity in it. Jajuka hadn't been through this town in a month. She hated to be out of contact with him for so long, and with the rising searches for rebels and escapees over the past month she was beginning to fear for his safety.

"All right," Celena said, making her voice as cheerful as possible as well. "Seeya later, don't forget about Tuesday."

"You better make sure that _you_ don't forget about it," Allie called to her as she left. Celena stuck out her tongue before pushing open one of the glass doors and sauntering out.

"Lena! How goes it? Any word from Dog-Boy?"

Celena looked up as she neared the two-story brick building she and her friends called home. A boy with blonde hair, a childish face, and big blue eyes had leaned halfway out of one of the top floor's windows and was smiling genially. "Nothing," she called up. "You better be careful, we don't have enough money to take you to the hospital if you fall out," she warned. A sly smile crossed her face, and she added, "It's not safe enough, for that matter. We'd have to take you to a big city, and someone would be sure to recognize you there. I suppose if that happened we'd just have to let you suffer."

"You're not nice, Lena," the boy said, making a mock pouty face.

"Deal with it!" Celena called to him, walking up the steps and throwing open the doors to the club.

It was known as 'The Dragon's Bane', and it was owned and operated by Celena and her little party of friends. They all worked there and lived there, sleeping on the top floor while the daily functions of the club went on down below. The club was only open to the public four days a week and occasionally for special functions like the 'mystery birthday' going on the next Tuesday. The money they made from it was what kept them clothed and eating, though they sometimes got a little help from Allie and her parents at 'The Pig Farm'. They hated getting charity from the people who already helped them out so much, but at times it was absolutely necessary. During the winter there were usually very few people looking for a party, especially since this little area of the world was known for its blizzards.

Their club was getting saturated by the time Celena walked through, and she frowned. Miguel, Gatti, and Dalet were on duty. She saw Guimel waiting patiently at the bar for her to relieve him of his job. He noticed her entry and waved. She flashed him a smile. "I'll be back in a minute," Celena assured him as she passed the bar. He nodded and flashed her the 'okay' symbol with his fingers. The girl made her way upstairs and into her room. Her uniform was lying on her bed where she'd left it. 'I hate that thing,' she growled to herself. 'Skirts are the most horrible things ever invented.' Not to mention that she'd been told once or twice that she didn't have the natural grace for skirt-wearing, and she knew that was the truth.

She slid it on, however, and slipped off her shirt to put on the white one lying next to the skirt. "Duty calls," she grumbled, and then fixed her face in her 'working' smile.

Four hours later found Celena Schezar lying in her bed, her uniform still on. She was falling in and out of sleep. 'You ought to turn the light off and take these stupid things off if you really want to get any rest tonight,' her mind told her. She told it to shut up, she was too tired to get up. It didn't listen to her. 'You know I'm right,' it purred.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Celena muttered, standing up and blinking unhappily. She threw off the skirt and shirt and grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt out of her dresser. She pulled those on and flipped the switch on her lamp. 'Good girl,' the voice said, and she mentally flipped it off. It scowled.

Not for the first time, Celena wondered if she was crazy, or if all people imagined their mental selves as almost separate entities. She thought of asking it, but it only knew as much as she did, so she resigned herself to ask one of the boys in the morning. 'If you remember,' the voice mocked maliciously. The girl ignored it and nuzzled down into her pillow. Sleep once again began to take hold, and she welcomed it.

Sleep brought Celena Schezar a few things that she neither wanted or needed at the moment. In came a torrent of memories from the deepest recesses of her mind, memories which she had locked away back there for good and tried not to think about whenever possible. Memories of the Vione. Memories of the army. Things she tried her best to forget, but her best was obviously not good enough. 'Too soon to forget,' the voice chided her. 'You can't forget what you are,' it taunted, sounding very pleased indeed. 'The war goes on. They're still looking for you, Celena. Everyone's looking for you.'

She saw Allen, and she saw her first home. She saw bright fields and beautiful flowers. She saw her mother, and then her mother's grave. 'She died because of you.'

"Stop it," Celena mumbled. She tried to close her eyes, but she couldn't. "Stop!" Her voice began to rise a few octaves, as it was prone to do when she was agitated. "Leave me alone!"

'Celena, Celena, Celena,' the voice whispered. 'Why do you insult your own mind? Memories are things to be cherished.' It appeared to her then. It was a perfect copy of her. Short blonde hair and bright blue eyes complimented by her pale skin. The eyes of 'the voice' weren't the same, though. They were malicious and vile. "Maybe you need someone to help you remember," her twin said out loud. "I can do that for you, my girl!"

"No!" Celena cried out in protest. She tried to force herself awake. It wasn't working. She couldn't wake up. She couldn't move; she couldn't fight the girl before her.   
  
"Come with me, Celena," she murmured, and everything went backwards.


End file.
